NHL Roundup : Goulet, Nordiques Beat Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens kept their eye on Peter Stastny Tuesday night at Quebec, but they should have zeroed in on his teammate, Michel Goulet.

Goulet, who was a holdout and missed the first five games, scored two goals and assisted on another to lead the Nordiques to a 6-4 victory that improved their record to 8-1-1. Goulet has six goals in five games.

The Canadiens were angry with Stastny because last week he cross-checked rookie Stephane Richer and drew blood when the Nordiques beat the Canadiens, 3-2.

The Canadiens were incensed when the NHL did not suspend Stastny. Their coach, Jean Perron, said he hoped that a blood bath could be avoided in the rematch. It was, although a fight did break out 10 seconds after the opening faceoff between rookie Mike Lalor of Montreal and veteran Wilf Paiement of the Nordiques. Paiement apparently set the trend when he established the upper hand, and once the game got going, the Nordiques took charge early.

Quebec scored four goals in the first 27 minutes, and, with Mario Gosselin doing another excellent job of goaltending, the Canadiens never made a move. Steve Rooney scored halfway through the second period to get the Canadiens on the board.

Gosselin, who has a 6-0-1 record this season, stopped 25 shots. After Goulet’s second goal of the game made it 6-1 early in the final period, Gosselin eased up and yielded three more goals.

Washington 6, St. Louis 3--After a slow start, the Capitals appear to be rolling. With Mike Gartner scoring a hat trick at Landover, Md., they extended their unbeaten string to three games in a row.

The Capitals, who lost the first three games of the season, bounced back in this one after Greg Paslawski knocked in his own rebound just eight seconds into the game.

The victory improved the Capitals’ record to 4-4-2. It is only the second time in the 12-year history of the franchise that the club has been as high as .500 after 10 games.

Boston 6, New Jersey 4--The Bruins rallied for four goals in the third period at East Rutherford, N.J., to improve their record to 6-2-1.

Rookie Kraig Nienhuis scored on a 35-foot wrist shot with 4:32 left to snap a 4-4 tie, but the Bruins didn’t clinch the victory until Nevin Markwart scored into an empty net in the closing seconds.

Charlie Simmer, the league’s top goal scorer, picked up his 11th goal of the season early in the final period.

Hartford 4, Pittsburgh 3--Dana Murzyn and Ron Francis scored goals 18 seconds apart in the third period at Pittsburgh to enable the Whalers to end their three-game losing streak.

The Penguins scored three times in the first period and led, 3-2, when Murzyn tied the game at 4:50. Shortly after the next faceoff, Francis broke the tie. Sylvain Turgeon set up both goals with brilliant centering passes.